The Giving Tree
by WaterWings617
Summary: AU/FAX. A Christmassy oneshot in which Fang tries to express his feelings toward Max through a gift.


**Hey everyone! I know I haven't posted anything in a really long time, but I wanted to do a Christmas one-shot. Now, let me just clarify a few things before we start.**

**1)****This is an AU fic. This means no wings, no erasers, etc, etc, etc.**

**2) I wanted to try to take a bunch of extremely clichéd topics (i.e. an orphanage, a ring, snow, and a little thing called Christmas) and try to weave them into a cohesive and not-so-lame story line. I probably failed big time.**

**3) I wanted to make it really long. The final word count was… 4,225 words, I believe, without author's notes.**

**4) This is from Fang's point of view.**

**5) I train wrecked ¾ of the way through.**

**6) I don't know how many people don't celebrate Christmas/don't go to church, but some churches do giving trees where a tree is set up with tags on it. On each tag is an age and an item (sometimes a clothing size as well) and people take them and buy what is ask for for children in need. The presents are returned wrapped, and are given to said people.**

**7) I don't own Maximum Ride.**

**Now let's begin!**

It was Iggy's fault for planting the idea in his head.

And Fang was stupid enough to go along with it, because really, it had seemed like a good idea at the time. And it was something he really wanted to do…

But wait. You want to hear this story from the beginning, now don't you?

So why don't we backtrack a bit?

It had begun a few days ago, maybe a week. Fang was sitting on his bed, in his room, at the orphanage that he lived in. He was just thinking to himself, having some "him-time". He'd needed it more and more recently, since… well, we'll get there.

So, he was just sitting there, when his best guy friend and roommate, Iggy, came in.

"Hey man," he said, flopping down on his bed, the bunk underneath Fang's.

"Hey," Fang said, looking out the small window on the wall next to his bed.

"What's been up with you lately? You seemed really out of it," Iggy said, pulling himself up with one thin hand so he could peek up into Fang's bunk. The walls above his bed were covered with posters and pictures of his favorite bands and all his friends here at the orphanage. Iggy scanned them, and one particular spot caught his eye.

There was a blank space on the wall.

Now, Fang had been filling this wall up with tons of stuff in the time he'd been here, because he knew he'd be here for a while. It'd been full for as long as Iggy could remember. Even the ceiling was covered.

A blank space was not normal, not at all. Iggy found himself wondering where this particular photo had gone. The space was too small to be for a poster, but Iggy couldn't seem to remember what photo fit in there.

Now Iggy realized Fang still hadn't answered, and prompted him to speak again.

"What photo went there? I can't seem to remember…" Iggy continued to stare thoughtfully at the wall, racking his brain for the correct image that fit there. It wasn't of him and Fang, or Angel, or Gaz. He was pretty sure if it had Nudge in it, he would have remembered. He didn't think it was of all of them… so that left one person.

Fang just flopped on the bed and groaned in response to Iggy's question, and this confirmed Iggy's suspicions as to whose picture fit in the empty space on the wall.

"It's Max, isn't it?"

Fang groaned again, and shifted so he could pull something out of his pocket. It was crinkled and had clearly been folded multiple times, but Iggy still knew it was the picture that was missing from the wall. As he looked on, he saw that the longer Fang stared at the picture, the lighter his expression got. You could still see he was in a bad mood, depressed even, but the picture seemed to make him feel just a little better.

Fang moved again, this time to grab the roll of tape he kept between his mattress and the wall. He ripped off a piece, rolled it up, and stuck the picture back on the wall.

"Yeah. It's Max." Fang sounded dejected, and tired, and just… hurt. Iggy climbed up the ladder into Fang's "space" and sat down next to him.

"Tell me about it."

An hour later, Fang had all but spilled his guts to Iggy, and the cogs in Ig's brain were already turning, whirling, and thinking up a plan. He needed to do something to fix this… problem that Fang seemed to be having.

See, Fang was in love with Max. Iggy could understand this, not that he was in love with Max, but he could see how Fang could be. Fang and Max had been friends for forever. They were super close, because, well, they'd grown up together in the orphanage. They were like brother and sister, best friends to the end.

But recently, Fang had been starting to have other feelings for Max. He'd tingle when she touched him, and get butterflies when she smiled. Whenever she was around, he couldn't think straight. He tried to ignore these things, but after a while, there was just nothing he could do. He was in love with Max.

So then, he'd tried to put some moves on her. But this resulted with her evading him and running away. And every time she did that, his heart broke a little more.

And now he didn't know what to do.

So he was enlisting in Iggy's help.

"Well, you know dude, it's almost Christmas. Buy her something romantic and try to kiss her. Maybe she'll feel something," Iggy said, looking over thoughtfully at the picture that now occupied the space on the wall. It was one of Fang and Max last Christmas. Fang had his arm slung playfully over Max's shoulders and they were both laughing. They were sitting in the remainders of the wrapping paper, and you could see the gifts around them and the tree in the background. Iggy couldn't believe he'd forgotten this picture—after all, he'd taken it.

Fang sighed and pulled out his pockets in one swift motion. "I'm broke. That's not gonna work." He sighed again. Iggy'd been churning out ideas for the last twenty minutes, and Fang had managed to shoot down them all. He felt bad, but… nothing was going to work.

Iggy sat up quickly from where he'd been laying (he'd flopped down sometime during Fang's speech on his failing love life) and hit his head on the ceiling.

"I got i- ow!" he exclaimed, rubbing his head. "That hurt. But I've got the perfect idea for you, my friend. I think the orphanage is doing that thing they did last year where they deliver the handwritten ornaments to the local church and people take them from a giving tree that they set up and buy them and give them back here. All you have to do is write down whatever you'd like to buy Max instead of putting down something for yourself. Then, someone'll buy it for you, and then bam! You have a romantic gift for Max, no expenses paid," Iggy grinned and Fang slowly turned towards him.

"Iggy..." Iggy cringed, expecting him to shoot down this idea, just as he had all of his other ones. But Fang continued.

"That is possibly the most brilliant thing you've ever though of. I'm proud to call you my friend," with that, Fang slid off the edge of his bed, landing with a dull thud on the floor.

"And for that, I salute you," Fang said, smiling ever so slightly and mock saluting his friend. "Now, I'm gonna go find where they keep those ornament slips. And think of something good to get Max," and with that, Fang spun on his heel and walked out.

Hours later, Fang still hadn't thought of a gift. He had the ornament that he would fill out, and he had a pen to fill it out with. But he had no idea what to get Max.

Would she want something girly, like jewelry? Max was tough, but he knew she had a softer side. Though, he'd never seen her wear any jewelry in his life.

He sighed and sat back in the chair he was sitting in in the den. Everyone else had headed to dinner, but he was still here, thinking.

What would Max like?

"Hey Fang, you're not hungry? I thought you were always hungry!" He heard a small voice from his right and turned to see little Angel standing there, clutching her favorite bear, Celeste.

"Oh, you can't think of what to ask for?" She asked, noticing the ornament slip in his lap, "How about CDs? You like music, dontcha?" Angel smiled up at him, and he placed the paper and pen on the table to his left and hoisted Ang onto his leg.

"Angel, can you keep a secret?" Fang asked, turning her towards him slightly.

"Of course I can Fang! I'm very good at secret-keeping," she looked up at him from where she sat, still smiling, but with a hint of concentration on her little face.

"I have a very big secret that I need you to keep for me Ang, okay? It's very important that you don't tell anyone. Can you do that for me?" Angel nodded, and Fang continued. "I want to get Max a present, but I'm broke, so Iggy thought maybe I should put one on one of these ornaments and have someone at the church get it for me," Fang gestured to the stuff next to him, and Angel nodded, concentrating hard now. "But now, I'm not sure what to get her." He sighed. "Can you think of any ideas for me?"

Angel looked up at him, a look of knowing overtaking her features. "Why do you want to buy Max a gift Fang?"

Fang shut his eyes and pressed his lips shut tight, knowing he would regret what he was about to say. "Because Ang… I care a lot about her. And I don't think she realizes quite how much. So I want to show her." He smiled softly at the little girl. "So, do you think you can help?"

Angel nodded, her adorable curls bouncing up and down as she did.

"If you want to show her you care, you should buy her a ring," Angel smiled and nodded some more. "Yeah. A ring,"

"But Ang… do you think Max would like a ring? She doesn't really wear jewelry much," Fang looked indecisive, and bit his lip. A ring really was a good idea, but would Max like it? He didn't want to buy her something she'd never wear.

"You should put it on one of these," Angel said, and tugged on the chain that Fang wore his dog tag with his medical information on it on. He had a rare blood type, and he had to wear it just in case he was ever in an accident and needed a transfusion, so the doctors would know what kind of blood to give him.

Fang nodded, suddenly imagining Max wearing a chain with a ring on it around her neck. It was tough, yet girly, making it distinctly Max-like. He suddenly grinned.

"Angel, you're a genius! Thank you so much!" he said, picking her up and spinning her around. He then set her on the ground and went over the table to write what he wanted on the ornament card.

Fang just hoped all this would work.

Dr. Martinez closed the hymnal as the song ended, and pulled on her jacket, slipping the book back into its spot on the back of the pew. Her daughter Ella did the same, and they started towards the exit of the church.

"Do you want to pick out a card from the giving tree?" Dr. Martinez asked her daughter, pointing toward the small tree that was set up in the corner of the foyer.

"Oh, yeah! You grab one too mom!" Ella said excitedly as she sidestepped people in order to get near the little tree.

"Okay hun. We can go shopping for them now, actually. I have no work today," Dr. Martinez worked as a veterinarian in town, so she was called in almost every today. But today someone else was working at the office, so she wasn't even on call. She'd been meaning to spend some quality time with her daughter, seeing as she didn't see her too often during the week. And she knew how much Ella loved shopping, so this was actually very convenient for her. Dr. Martinez stepped towards the tree and started flipping over the ornament cards, looking for a good one to take.

"Mom! I found a great one!" Ella exclaimed, suddenly coming round to the side of the tree that her mom was looking at. She'd gone around the back because she felt those ornaments sometimes got neglected, and the first one she'd picked up had been absolutely perfect. It was for a boy only a year or two older than her, but the description said that he didn't want a gift for himself. He was instead asking for a ring to give to his friend, because he wanted her to see that he cared. Ella thought this was the most adorable thing ever, and thus ran straight to her mom.

Dr. Martinez flipped over the card and read the description. She looked up at her daughter.

"I don't know Ella… a nice ring is pretty expensive,"

"But mom!" Ella exclaimed indignantly, "It's the season of giving! I want to help this boy!"

Dr. Martinez sighed, knowing there was no way she couldn't deny her daughter or the boy on the card this. "Okay Els. We'll just take this one then. Let's go get a nice ring for this boy."

A week and a half later, the presents were delivered to the orphanage, and set under the tree, just in time for Christmas Eve. Every present except for Fang's, because when he'd seen the small box with his tag on top of it, he'd grabbed it and rushed it up to his room.

He'd had to undo the wrapping paper to get the chain inside, so he peeled it open very carefully, being sure not to rip it. He was almost done when…

BAM!

The door burst open and Gazzy ran in, shutting the door behind him and locking it. Fang had jumped when the door had opened and now he scrambled to catch the ring box, but the damage was already done. In his panic, the box had hit the floor and the ring had popped out. Now it was rolling across the floor of the room, towards the tiny crack under the dresser.

"Lemme in!" he heard from the other side of the door, but he couldn't go let who ever Gazzy, his other roommate, was keeping out, in. He had to catch that ring before it disappeared under the dresser. The door shuddered again, and this time it shook the floor, making the ring fall over and stop rolling just before it disappeared. Fang breathed a sigh of relief and picked up the ring. In a room inhabited by three boys, gosh only knows what's under the dresser.

Gazzy flopped on to the single bed on the opposite side of the room from Iggy and Fang's bunks. How the youngest had gotten the best bed, Fang still wasn't sure, but he had to admit he liked his little space up in the corner on the top bunk. It was very cozy.

The door continued to shudder, and Fang turned his attention to Gazzy as he picked up the ring box and the wrapping paper that he'd dropped.

"What'd you do this time Gaz?" Fang asked accusingly, going over to the door and popping it open. Ig fell in, sprawling on the floor by Fang's feet.

"Hey Fang. Did you get your present?" Fang nodded.

"What present? You got a present?" Gazzy dashed over to Fang and Iggy stood himself up, brushed himself off, and shut the door.

"Yeah. He wanted to get something f-" Fang cut him off with a hand over Iggy's mouth.

"It's nothing," he countered quickly, and climbed up into his bunk to finish wrapping. But sadly, Iggy and Gazzy couldn't take a hint, and they both followed him. Fang carefully started to re wrap the present, trying to ignore the whispers of Iggy and Gazzy from below him.

'What's he doing?" Gazzy muttered quietly.

"He put down something for Max on his ornament tag. It looks like he's re-wrapping it," Iggy muttered back.

"I wonder why…" Gazzy said, looking up at Fang.

"There was something else I needed to put inside the present," He said, putting the final piece of tape on the present and scrawling "to Max, from Fang" on the top of the box in sharpie. Then he stuck both the tape and the present back in between his bad and the wall. "There, done," he said, cracking his knuckle. "I'm giving it to her tomorrow,"

"What did you end up getting for her?" Iggy asked as Fang slid down the ladder and started towards the door.

"That's for me to know and you to find out my friends," Fang said surreptitiously, and snuck out into the hall before they could ask anymore questions.

The next morning, Max awoke to the sound of little feet running up and down the hall outside her door. Then she felt a little hand on her shoulder, and groggily opened her eyes to find Angel shaking her awake.

"C'mon Max, get up! It's Christmas and we're not allowed to open any presents until everyone is up!" She grabbed her sister figure's hand and tugged, trying to pull Max somewhat upright. Max rubbed her eyes and slowly got out of bed, letting Angel pull her.

"Okay Ang, I'm coming," Max sighed sleepily as Angel pulled her towards the door. Once they were out in the hall, Angel deemed Max awake enough to walk on her own to the den, and ran off to join Gazzy and Nudge. As Max passed Fang's door, he stepped out as well, being pulled by Iggy.

"Fang, let's go! I want presents!" Fang shut the door behind him and Max, laughing, fell into step beside Fang, who Iggy was still dragging along.

"Merry Christmas Fang," Max said, smiling slightly through her hazy early morning demeanor. Fang mumbled something somewhat incoherent that _sounded_ like merry Christmas, so Max took it as one. But with Fang you could never really be sure. Even when you were capable of reading him like a book.

The three of them trooped into the family room, and Max and Fang plopped next to each other while Iggy joined the others under the tree. A few minutes later Angel brought both of them presents from under the tree.

"This one's for you Max, and this one's for you Fang," she stated, handing them each a large gift wrapped box. Before she turned back to the tree she gave Fang a meaningful look which Max caught, but decided to purposefully ignore.

He would tell her when he was ready.

Hours later, they had all finished unwrapping presents and were just sitting around, munching on cookies and drinking hot cocoa.

And Fang still hadn't worked up the courage to present the present to Max. He knew he needed too, but, as hard as it was to admit, he was afraid. He wasn't sure if he could take rejection again.

It hurt.

And here Max was, laughing, talking and joking, as if nothing had ever happened. Did she not feel the pain too? Was it just him, feeling this way?

And it was the fear that she didn't that kept him from pulling the box out right then and there.

And with all this on his mind, Fang was numbing, slowly.

Tasteless. The hot cocoa was tasteless.

As were the cookies.

The fire in the corner wasn't warming him. He felt cold, frozen even.

He couldn't feel the heat coming off of his mug of cocoa either. The only things he could feel were the shape of the box in the pocket of his pajama pants and the slight warmth that came off of Max's arm, which was dangerously close to his.

He knew that she could defrost him.

The cookies had long since been devoured, but the fire was still roaring, which had a somewhat narcotic effect on everyone in the room. Iggy was dozing lightly in the armchair next to him, and Nudge was curled up at his feet, sleepily mumbling something. Angel was curled up next to Max, and as soon as she shifted to rest her weight on the arm of the couch instead of her shoulder, Max stretched slowly and stood up, being carful not jostle him or Angel. She froze when he moved, but then realized he had still been awake and untensed.

"I'm gonna go outside. The weather report said it might snow and I wanna check. Feel like coming?" Max whispered her face close to Fang's. Fang just nodded mutely, her breath tickling his face. They stood and left the den, and both shrugged into sweatshirts that were waiting on a very large rack by the outside door and slid on shoes. Then, they stepped outside.

It was a flurry of white, and for a moment, Fang couldn't see. When his eyes adjusted to the expanse of white, he was awestruck. He heard Max gasp from beside him.

The curtains had been drawn in the small den, so they had been oblivious to the amount of snow piling up outside. There was at least a foot on the ground already, and more was coming down.

"Max," Fang said, suddenly gathering his courage. The excitement, the anticipation, the nervousness, suddenly, it was all too much. He needed to let it out.

He needed to _finish what he started_.

"Yes?" she said turning to look at him, and he pulled the box out of his pocket, handed it to her, and kissed her, right smack dab on the lips. A hint of a smile played on his lips.

"Merry Christmas,"

And with that, he slipped back inside and headed for his room.

Now he was the one running.

Max stood there in awe for a full minute before composing herself and heading back inside. She slipped off her shoes and pulled off her sweatshirt, then silently climbed the stairs to her room and shut the door behind her. She sat down on her bed and placed the present in her lap, looking at the small box. She then, slowly, carefully and deliberately, began to peel the paper off.

Inside was a ring box. She stared at it in awe, knowing that the contents must be some sort of jewelry, and she wondered how Fang had ever scraped together enough money for something so expensive.

Or_ why_ he had done it for _her_. She knew she wasn't worth it.

She slowly popped open the box with her trembling hands, and her mouth formed a small o when she saw what was inside.

There, nestled in a cushion, was a small, glittering band of silver. The gems inset in it weren't big or gaudy, but simple. They looked, at least, like diamonds, and they sparkled, even though the light in the room wasn't on. Max lifted it carefully from the cushion, and found there was a chain attached to it. She fastened it around her neck, hands still trembling, and cupped the ring in her palm once she was sure it was properly strung around her neck.

It was beautiful. Absolutely breathtakingly gorgeous.

Now the question was, why?

Max found tears brimming in her eyes as she stared at the beautiful gift. It was perfect. What did she do to deserve this, to deserve him?

Max quietly got up from her bed and walked to Fang's room, and slowly, deliberately, rapped on the door.

No answer.

She tried again.

"Come in," came a tired voice from inside. Max slowly opened the door and shut it silently behind her.

"Why Fang?" she said softly, stepping towards the lump she could see on the top bunk.

"I thought you'd have figured it out by now," the lump under the covers mumbled. Max tentatively stepped toward the bed and climbed the ladder so she could see the second bunk clearly. She scanned the walls, and took in all of the taped up pictures, sketches and posters that hung there. She smiled slowly when she spotted a rather crumpled photo that was one of her favorites; the one of her and Fang last Christmas. She sighed and turned her attention back to "the lump".

"Why?"

"I love you," he said quietly, but it was muffled by the blankets. Max peeled back the covers and crawled in as well, lying next to Fang.

He decided to cut to the chase.

"I love you," he muttered again, and this time Max heard him. Her eyes widened and she gasped a bit. Hurt flashed in Fang's eyes and he tried to turn away. He settled for lying on his back and shutting his eyes. Just so he wouldn't have to look at her.

Rejection hurt.

Stupid Iggy.

Stupid idea.

Stupid ring.

Stupid feelings.

Stupid… wait. Why did he suddenly feel warm?

Fang opened his eyes to find Max hugging him. Oh. That was why.

"I never thought I'd hear you say that," she whispered into his chest. Then she picked her head up… and planted a kiss on his lips.

To Fang, it felt better than all the times he'd tried to kiss her, because this time, they were both kissing. It wasn't just him placing a kiss on cold, unresponsive lips. This time, they worked in sync.

This time, the hole in his heart filled.

"I love you," Max said once she'd pulled away. She laid her head on his chest and sighed contentedly.

"Merry Christmas Max," Fang said, touching the ring that hung around her neck.

"Merry Christmas Fang," Max said, placing her hand over his.

**ALRIGHT, I KNOW THE END WAS A COMPLETE TRAIN WRECK.**

**But I ran out of ideas.**

**Love it? Hate it? Think I should go die in a hole?**

**Let me know by reviewing. All reviews are welcome.**

**Merry Christmas!**


End file.
